The hidden wireless discounts you might be missing

Shopping for wireless service may require a lot more math than other common consumer transactions, but it’s like many of them in one helpful aspect: The price in bold type doesn’t have to be what you actually pay if you’ve got the right connections.

That’s “connections” not in the sense of knowing somebody who works for a wireless carrier or of being a member of the Mob. Rather, three of the big four carriers will cut you a break on their monthly rates if you work for specific organizations — not just the government or military — attend or have graduated from certain schools, or belong to some associations. One will even credit you for putting your money in a particular type of financial institution.

The catch: In most cases, you won’t know how much you can save until you plug in a work or school e-mail address or identify your relevant association to the carrier in some other way. Here’s how they break down:

AT&T offers discounts based on your employer, school and association. It doesn’t document what most of them are, but third-party sites have shown cost savings of as much as 20% (that’s what San Francisco-based Uber drivers can get). Unlike other carriers, AT&T also offers a 15% discount to union members. Note that in most cases, this only covers the data part of your bill, not the $20 per-device line-access charge, and it’s only good for the first line in multiple-line plans.

Sprint also provides discounts based on your employer, school or association. It, too, doesn’t document how much you can save, but other sites suggest a similar range; for example, Stanford University employees are in for 18% savings. As at AT&T, the discount only applies to the data part of your bill, and Sprint also excludes the 50%-off deals it offers to customers who switch from other carriers. And if you bank at a credit union, you can sign up for an additional program that will put $50 in your account every year for each line you have at Sprint.

Verizon Wireless, too, provides employer, school and association-based discounts. Verizon spokeswoman Kelley Crummey said they start at 8% off, but you’ll have to check other sites to get a more detailed sense of the possible savings; for instance, Vanderbilt University students can get 10% off while Vandy employees are eligible for discounts of up to 20%. These only cover the data portion of your charge, but the bigger exclusion here is Verizon’s new $80/month unlimited plan — for which only Verizon’s 15% military-and-veterans discount applies.

T-Mobile has a simpler approach: It stopped offering discounts to new customers in 2014, and its current T-Mobile One unlimited-data deal — the only one offered to subscribers — doesn’t allow them at all.

Rob Pegoraro is a tech writer based out of Washington, D.C. To submit a tech question, e-mail Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/robpegoraro.